After December’s flood the weather has been mostly chilly and dry. This has created tough low & cold water steelheading conditions and also slowed down the winter trout bite. But, you can’t catch fish sitting on the couch and for those that have ventured out, there has been some success!

Our speaker for the February 17th meeting is Kelcee Smith. She is the Chum Salmon Reintroduction Coordinator for ODFW, joining the project in fall 2021. It will be an interesting presentation you won’t want to miss!

Our February 21st Fish A Long will be at my place on the Sandy River for a steelhead school and the pic above is from last year. We’ll have some hands on instruction on Spey Casting, tips how to successfully swing a fly in the winter and also on nymph fishing presentations, which excels in smaller streams. Naturally we’ll have the option to warm up by woodstove and enjoy a good lunch if the fishing is slow, and lets face it Winter Steelhead fly fishing is always slow!

Good news: Marty & Mia Sheppard of Little Creek Outfitters are keeping the Sandy River Spey Clave going. Mark your calendars for April 24th & 25th at Oxbow Park.

For several years now we have been posting monthly fishing reports. Looking back on them is a good way to get ideas for local fly-fishing opportunities currently happening or coming up. I’ve tested it out; type the word February or March in the search box and you’ll get all the past reports for that month.

Please remember our local fly shops and sporting goods stores. Hope to see you at a meeting or on the water!

Dave Kilhefner

Happy New Year! Hope everyone was able to enjoy good holiday festivities plus have some new fishing stuff to try out.

I’m looking forward to the New Year and have a couple “fishing resolutions” to share. First and most importantly is to fish more this winter, specifically at the OFC ponds and local steelhead rivers. Next is to continue to improve our Fish A Longs calendar. Fishing opportunities continue to change over the years and it’s important to change with them.

Our January 20th meeting will feature a run down of our planned Fish A Longs for the coming year. While we have a schedule, it’s not set in stone so if you have any ideas let me know (call/email/text) so we can discuss them at the next meeting.

We won’t have a Fish A Long this month as I will be out of town. However, steelhead reports are MUCH better than last year so if the water conditions are OK, get out there! We will have a steelhead school for our February 21st Fish A Long. The pic above is from a steelhead Fish A Long several years ago.

Big news: I’m going to be moving at the end of 2026 so we will need a new club president. I’ve been the club president since March of 2020, it’s been fun and rewarding! If you’re interested in talking about this let me know.

For several years now we have been posting monthly fishing reports. Looking back on them is a good way to get ideas for local fly fishing opportunities currently happening or coming up. Type the word January or February in the search box and you’ll get all the past reports for that month.

It’s time to think about paying your 2026 membership dues if you haven’t already. Here is the membership link. If you participate in the club I will guarantee you’ll get a solid value for the $35 you pay to be a member.

January is a great month to get good deals after Christmas so get out to your local fly shop buy all the stuff that Santa forgot. Good fishing!

Dave Kilhefner

Hope everyone enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving and was able to get out and do some fishing with friends. Fishing last month was pretty good as you’ll see when the November fishing reports come out next week.

It’s time to think about paying your 2026 membership fee. However, if you joined as a new member in the second half of 2025 it will be good for 2026 too; we are on the honor system so please let me know. Here is the membership link. If you participate in the club I will guarantee you’ll get a solid value for the $35 you pay to be a member.

The main activities our club focuses on are meetings and fish a longs.

I’m looking for input on the 2026 Fish A Longs schedule. With the warming trends fishing opportunities are changing. Check out the 2026 fish a longs schedule. The dates for 2026 have been updated so you can mark your calendars. You’ll notice some fish a longs have “TBD” in front of several choices; take a look and let me know your preferences or if you’d like to see any changes.

December is shaping up to be decent fishing month. My crystal ball says the most dependable local fishing will be at the Oregon Fishing Club ponds for trout, especially after a warming trend (the pic above is me with a recent trout from an OFC lake). The key to winter fishing is to be ready when a good weather window presents itself. Several coastal streams are already producing steelhead plus the Clackamas and Sandy get random shots of late summer and early winter steelhead this time of year, plus some late running native coho. Here’s a link to the PGE fish counts so you can see for yourself.

We don’t have a club Fish-A-Long in December or January but I’m open to helping folks with their spey casting and winter steelhead presentation basics. If you are interested in this email me and I’ll put you on the list.

For several years now we have been posting monthly fishing reports. Looking back on them is a good way to get ideas for local fly fishing opportunities currently happening or coming up. I’ve tested it out and it works! Type the word December or January in the search box and you’ll get all the past reports for that month.

Now is the perfect time for Christmas shopping plus don’t forget to get your wish list out so you get all the stocking stuffers you want. Please remember our local fly shops and sporting goods stores.

Dave Kilhefner

Summer is officially over and the cooler days of fall are upon us. These are some of the best times to spend on the water and CFF has some great Fish A Longs coming up.

Our October 21st meeting is at High Rocks. Social hour starts at 6pm and the program at 7pm. Our speaker will be Joe Warren. He’ll be talking about Rufus Woods Reservoir in northern Washington. It’s famous for its Triploid Rainbow trout fishing. Joe has 20 years experience fly fishing there and I had a great trip up there with Joe earlier this year. It will be a great presentation you won’t want to miss.

This months October 25th Fish A Long will be at Beavertail Campground on the Deschutes River. It’s one of our most popular Fish A Longs. It’s become a tradition that several of us go a few days early, camp out and have a steak BBQ. Here’s a link to last years report. Hope to see you there!

Another fishing opportunity to note is Justensen Ranch Lakes will be opening to fishing on October 8th. Many of us have fished there and we had a great fish a long there several years ago.

It’s time for someone to think about becoming the new club president. I’ve been the club president since March of 2020 and can continue for another year or two, but not forever. If you’re interested in talking about this let me know. Naturally there are some obligations but it’s also a lot of fun plus has good perks too.

For several years now we have been posting monthly fishing reports. Looking back on them is a fun way to get ideas for local fly fishing opportunities currently happening or coming up. Type “October” or “November” in the Clackamas Fly Fishers website search box you’ll get all the past reports for that month. 

Good fishing! 

Dave Kilhefner

Every year it seems like summer will never get here but once it does it starts flying by! I find myself scrambling to squeeze in all the things I wanted to do once the weather gets nice. This summer I have some good fly fishing plans and hope you do too! These include hitting the Pacific Ocean for Rockfish to chasing trout in Oregon and beyond.

Our July 15^th meeting at High Rocks will feature the always popular Garrett Lesko. His presentation will focus on the Crooked River. It’s one of our most popular fisheries that experienced a die off several years ago due to extremely low water but good fishing has returned and it’s time to get re-aquanted!

The July 19th Fish A Long will be on a Mt Hood Lake, most likely Harriet Lake as it’s due to be stocked the week before the Fish A Long. Several of us will be camping out a day or two before. Contact me if you’d like more info on our camping plans.

We have years of fishing reports logged on our website. Looking back on them is a fun way to get ideas for local fly fishing opportunities currently happening or coming up. Type “July” or “August” and you’ll get all the past reports for that month. 

Please remember our local fly shops and sporting goods stores. Hope to see you at a meeting or on the water!

Good fishing! 

Dave Kilhefner